Movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease have been increasingly affecting larger and younger portions of the global population. These disorders are usually associated with degeneration of the central nervous system. The most common symptoms surrounding Parkinson's disease are movement related and include most notably shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and difficulty with walking and gait.
Parkinsonian tremor has long been accepted as the most distinct symptom that indicates the presence of the disease and its severity, and also serves as a measure of the progress and evolution of the disease. Most Parkinson's patients find that the most difficult part of the disease is the induced tremor attributed mainly to the lack of dopamine in the brain. Research has introduced two main types of tremors that affect most Parkinson's patients: (i) resting tremor, which occurs when an individual is resting and can inhibit activities such as sleeping; and (ii) action tremor, which occurs when an individual is performing a specific task such as lifting an object.
Tremor signals are a result of the lack of dopamine in a patient's brain, leading to errors regarding the transmission of electrical nerve impulses through the patient's central and peripheral nervous systems. These transmission errors, appear as involuntary, rapid movements that generally affect a person's limbs (e.g., arms, hands, feet, etc.). Tremor signals are typically measured using electromyograms (EMG), accelerometers, etc.
The most current advances in medicine and science regarding alleviating Parkinson's tremors can be classified into two main categories: firstly, pharmaceutical options that aim to balance the amount of dopamine in the brain and that can cause known side effects such as painful rigidity; and secondly, the use of deep brain implants that stimulate areas of the brain responsible for motor movement. However, pharmaceutical options and deep brain implants can have an inherent danger attached to them due to the process and surgery required to place them in the brain as well as the fact that currently, the medical community does not have an understanding of the causes and origin of Parkinson's disease.
Accordingly, new, non-invasive, and non-pharmaceutical driven, techniques for managing tremors are needed.